Washington Commanders
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Josh Johnson was solid in his first start since 2021.
Johnson had just five days to prepare for his first start in four years, but you wouldn’t have known it based on how he performed on Christmas. He looked calm and composed in the pocket, completing 15 of his 23 passes for 198 yards with two carries for 10 yards. It ended up being one of the best performances of his career; his passing yards were his fifth most in a single game, while his 65% completion...
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Commanders’ fans. With the short week coinciding with the Christmas holiday, I have fallen one game behind with the Stats and Snaps. Hopefully this will still be of interest to the hard core readers who still pay attention this late in a losing season.
The Commanders started the Week 16 match against the Philadelphia Eagles with an unexpectedly strong performance for a team missing its star QB and key starters on both sides of the ball. On the opening kickoff return, Mike Sainristil forced a fumble to give the Commanders the ball deep...
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If you though the Greg Manusky and Jack Del Rio defenses of yesteryear were bad, wait until you get a load of this! Dan Quinn’s unit make the aforementioned two look like the late Buddy Ryan.
The nightmare of a season continued for Washington as they fell 30-23 to the Cowboys at home. The silver lining… they remain inside the top 10 for the 2026 NFL Draft.
Below are my Studs and Duds of the game, followed by some notes.
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Commanders.com
“Even though it was a short week, we prepared well,” Johnson said. “The things were out there that we wanted to get done. We just had a couple of plays here and there that we left on the field.”
That is perhaps the worst part of the Commanders’ 10th loss since starting the season 3-2. The Commanders were competitive, despite being down multiple starters and losing more to injury during the game itself. Johnson, who had just five days to prepare...
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The Washington Commanders hosted the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas, and were defeated 30-23. That loss dropped them to 4-12 for the season, with one game left to play. With Washington out of playoff contention, fan focus has turned to next year’s draft, and where the team will be picking next April. The Commanders were projected to have the No. 7 overall pick entering Week 17, and that didn’t change after Thursday’s three-game Christmas slate.
The Commanders final game is against the Eagles in Philly. They won’t know the date/time of the game until Sunday. The Eagles host the Buffalo Bills...
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The Week 17 Christmas slate of game switches over to Amazon Prime for the third game of the day. The Denver Broncos are visiting the Kansas City Chiefs in primetime. This is another division game that should have meant more than it does, but Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL and the Chiefs were eliminated from the playoffs. The Broncos were on an 11-game winnings streak until they lost to the Jaguars last week in a big AFC game.
Matchup: Denver Broncos (12-3) vs Kansas City Chiefs (6-9)
Date/Time: Thursday, December 25 | 8:15 p.m. ET
Location: GEHA Field at Arrowhead...
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Dan Quinn spoke to the media after the Washington Commanders lost to the Dallas Cowboys 30-23 at home on Christmas day. He noted the team’s fight, but said they have to capitalize on winning-time moments. Center Tyler Biadasz suffered knee and ankle injuries during the game, and was ruled out. He will get an MRI tomorrow, and they hope its only sprains for both, but they won’t know until he has further tests. Biadasz was wearing a walking boot and a sleeve on his leg in the locker room.
(Starts @ 39:40)
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The NFL has three games on its Week 17 Christmas day slate. The Washington Commanders hosted the Dallas Cowboys earlier, and now we’ve got another NFC division matchup. The Detroit Lions are visiting the Minnesota Vikings in a game they have to win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. The Lions currently have a 6% chance of making the playoffs, and that goes up to 9% if they win, but they are eliminated if they lose. The Vikings have already been eliminated, and will be starting rookie QB Max Brosmer with J.J. McCarthy sidelined again.
Matchup: Detroit Lions (8-7)...
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Commanders injuries and inactives
With Daniels and Mariota both out, Josh Johnson gets his first start for Washington since 2018. With Chris Rodriguez inactive, we should get a heavy dose of Bill Croskey-Merritt at running back. Laremy Tunsil’s absence should mean plenty of action at left tackle for Brandon Coleman.
Game recap
In the first half, the Cowboys scored 3 touchdowns on their first three possessions, then added a field goal on their 4th and final possession of the half to put up 289 yards and 24 points.
Washington’s defense showed up in the third quarter, and the Commanders...
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The Washington Commanders are hosting the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas day. This game doesn’t mean anything for the playoffs with both teams already eliminated. The Cowboys were knocked out of contention last week when the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Commanders to clinch the NFC East. Washington is down to their third-string QB in Josh Johnson, and they added last year’s third-string QB(Jeff Driskel) this week with both Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota out. The Cowboys are planning on playing Dak Prescott and most of their starters for the final two games. Merry Christmas!
Matchup: Dallas Cowboys...
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The Washington Commanders are hosting the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas day. This game doesn’t mean anything for the playoffs with both teams already eliminated. The Cowboys were knocked out of contention last week when the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Commanders to clinch the NFC East. Washington is down to their third-string QB in Josh Johnson, and they added last year’s third-string QB(Jeff Driskel) this week with both Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota out. The Cowboys are planning on playing Dak Prescott and most of their starters for the final two games. Merry Christmas!
Matchup: Dallas Cowboys...
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The Washington Commanders are hosting the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas day. This game doesn’t mean anything for the playoffs with both teams already eliminated. The Cowboys were knocked out of contention last week when the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Commanders to clinch the NFC East. Washington is down to their third-string QB in Josh Johnson, and they added last year’s third-string QB(Jeff Driskel) this week with both Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota out. The Cowboys are planning on playing Dak Prescott and most of their starters for the final two games. Merry Christmas!
Matchup: Dallas Cowboys...
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